SHORT TAKES

BELL MICROPRODUCTS SIGNS DISTRIBUTION AGRMT WITH AMD

San Jose, CA — Bell Microproducts announced the signing of an agreement with Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. to supply their complete range of the AMD-K6-2, AMD-K6-III and AMD Athlon microprocessors.

“We are pleased to add Bell Microproducts as an AMD Authorized Distributor for our PC Processor Products,” said Jeff Erhart, director of worldwide distributor operations at AMD. “Bell Microproducts has done an outstanding job penetrating the commercial marketplace. Their position in the market, combined with their size and flexibility, give AMD a strong business partner who can adapt to the ever-changing PC market.”

NOVELL AND COMPAQ EXTEND AGREEMENT

Provo, UT — As ZDNN reported, Novell Inc. and Compaq Computer Corp. extended their relationship to broadly integrate Novell Directory Services into Compaq’s hardware and software. Specifically, Novell will port Novell Directory Services (NDS) to Tru64/Unix, and Compaq will support NDS on all platforms on its ProLiant, ProSignia and Alpha servers. Compaq will also ship Novell’s ZENworks desktop management software as part of its desktop and workstation computers. In addition, NDS will be integrated with Compaq’s Insite Manager network management software.

Broad cross-service and support agreements are also part of the deeper relationship, officials of both companies said. Compaq and Novell will also develop an application with Compaq’s upcoming SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) acceleration card in which NDS will automatically forward security tasks to the card, where they can be processed faster on silicon than they could otherwise in software. The port of NDS to Tru64/Unix will occur early next year, officials said.

EMC AND LUCENT SIGN JOINT MARKETING AGREEMENT

Hopkinton, MA — EMC Corporation and Lucent Technologies announced a joint marketing and qualification agreement as part of a relationship that makes EMC’s Enterprise Storage systems the recommended high-availability storage solution for Lucent’s line of Distributed Network Control Platform (DNCP) servers. The servers are sold as the fault-tolerant platform for a “softswitch” technology from Lucent and other Intelligent Network software applications.

The two companies will target their joint solution at the communications industry’s mission-critical service delivery and call control applications, requiring maximum reliability. Increasingly, communications providers worldwide demand zero downtime and require a fault-tolerant platform with high-availability storage to ensure uninterrupted services.

DELL TO ACQUIRE CONVERGENET TECHNOLOGIES

Round Rock, TX — Dell Computer Corporation announced a definitive agreement to acquire privately held ConvergeNet Technologies Inc. of San Jose, Calif. ConvergeNet, a storage networking company focused on enterprise data-storage technologies for storage area networks (SAN), has assembled a leadership team with many years of experience from companies such as Hewlett-Packard Co., Storage Technology Corp. (StorageTek) and Sun Microsystems Inc.

Under the terms of the acquisition, Dell will exchange about 6.9 million shares of Dell common stock for all outstanding shares and options of ConvergeNet. Based on yesterday’s closing stock price, the transaction has a current aggregate value of approximately $340 million. Upon completion of the transaction, which is expected within 60 days, Dell will record a one-time charge against after-tax earnings of five to seven cents per share for purchased in-process research and development expenses. For more information visit http://www.dell.com

SIEBEL & MERANT ANNOUNCE LICENSING AGREEMENT

Mountain View, CA — MERANT, a provider of enterprise application development, announced that Siebel Systems, a supplier of Web-based front office software systems, selected its DataDirect Connect ODBC drivers for market-leading data access. With this license agreement, Siebel Systems will include MERANT’s DataDirect Connect ODBC drivers as a component of its front office applications and development environments. By incorporating DataDirect Connect ODBC, Siebel customers can unlock valuable corporate data stored in Siebel enterprise applications, rapidly and seamlessly.

“We’re excited to have Siebel Systems join the more than 500 software partners that are already connected by MERANT DataDirect,” said Brian Reed, MERANT vice president of DataDirect product management. “By leveraging MERANT DataDirect solutions, Siebel customers can now more rapidly and reliably access the valuable data assets embedded in their enterprise solutions, transforming their businesses into more agile and highly competitive organizations.”

ZZYZX ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH METASTOR STORAGE SOLUTIONS

San Diego, CA — Zzyzx Peripherals Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of disk and tape storage solutions, workstations and peripherals for UNIX and NT environments, announced a partnership with MetaStor Storage Solutions, a division of LSI Logic Storage Systems Inc., that enables Zzyzx to market MetaStor’s S-Class enterprise level Fibre Channel RAID storage solutions.

The deal positions Zzyzx to offer its customers high performing Fibre Channel storage solutions that are designed for data center environments. MetaStor’s S-Class systems offer performance, fault tolerance and scalability, featuring dual active/active hot-swap RAID controllers that support hundreds of GBs to multiple TBs of data storage. For more information visit http://www.zzyzx.com

— This file compiled by Steve Fisher, HPCwire managing editor. Email: [email protected]

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